MARIST
BROTHERS PRIMARY SCHOOL,
Suva Street, Suva, Fiji Islands
A Flood of Books for the Library
The
Marist Brothers’ Primary School was established in 1888, at the request
of Bishop Julian Vidal, initially to provide education for the children of European
settlers. Very quickly, the brothers saw that the need for education was much
wider than just this. At that time, there was no provision at all for the children
of the indentured Indian settlers, and in 1897 a school for Indians was opened,
though children of all races attended, so that it soon became designated as
Marist Brothers’ Cosmopolitan School. In 1913, the Felix College was opened,
catering for Europeans and Part Europeans. From this school developed the Marist
Brothers’ High School, later to be transferred to the present Carew street
site. In 1936 St Columba’s Claudius Memorial School was opened. These
two schools continued to run as separate institutions until 1963 when they were
combined and named the Marist Brothers’ Primary School. However, the school
has always been more popularly known as “Marist Suva Street.”
The school is multi racial and multi religious in character. At present the school has a role of 700 boys and a staff of 20 teachers. The students’ ages range from 6 to 14 years. Marist Suva Street is the only all boys primary school in Fiji. It has long been known for its enthusiastic participation in the many activities organized around primary schools, such as rugby, fun runs, art competitions and the like.
What is NEEDED…
The school wishes to offer a greater range of reading material for the students.
With 600 books out of the library at any one time, the shelves can look rather
bare. Many of the students are keen readers, a marvellous achievement considering
th
at
for almost all, English is a second language. Reading is keenly promoted at
the school as a boost to learning, and the school also has a full time Reading
Recovery Teacher to assist those who struggle with the written word.
What you can DO…
$1,000 will put approximately another 230 library books on the shelves. With
some boys able to “devour” a book in a matter of days, the school
wishes to do all it can to promote reading with as wide a choice as possible.
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